‘I wasn’t my authentic self': identity concealment during placement-based work-integrated learning among students from equity-deserving groups

This study explores how students from equity-deserving groups (EDGs) manage concealable stigmatized identities during placement-based work-integrated learning (WIL). Through thematic analysis of interviews with 36 participants, we identify students’ motivations for identity concealment or disclosure, the strategies they use, the impacts on their WIL experiences, and their recommendations for institutional support. Students concealed identities to access work, avoid detection, and conform to organizational norms, while others disclosed identities to self-verify and embrace authenticity. Partial disclosure and full concealment emerged as key strategies, shaped by perceptions of workplace receptivity and the temporary nature of WIL experiences. The findings reveal that identity concealment impacts students’ social relationships and well-being in complicated ways and usually undermines the educative potential of WIL. Students called on institutions to address identity stigmatization by equipping employers with tools to support diversity, including improving job advertisement transparency, offering workplace cultural safety training, and facilitating meaningful student-employer interactions. By amplifying students’ voices, this study provides actionable insights for institutions to create culturally safe WIL environments.